Meet James Omokwe Creator of ‘One Chance’

So I got to chat with James Omokwe, creator of One Chance and here’s what he shared with me, yes readers he’s a cutie but he’s taken. Look away, look away!

•Introduce yourself, tell us a bit about your personal life?‎ (Family,hobbies)
I grew up in Lagos. I was born in the UK. Studies here in Lagos. I am Married. I love playing video games in my spare time. Helps me relax

• obviously, you are a creative, what do you both major in?
I focus on Directing. abit of producing here and there.

• tell us about your journey as a film maker.

I made my first film in 2008 called “Grass” I had always wanted to be either a film maker or an animator. After a while i did a course :Directing for Film” When NYFA came to Nigeria for a month. That was made possible by Mr Linus Idahosa, the MD of Del-York International after which i made another short film called “House 9” and then i proceeded to making my first feature “Awakening” in 2013 which was nominated in 2013 and 2014 for AMAA and the AMVCA’S respectively. I have done other projects between then till now.

I wanted to do something real and different. I wanted to tell a story that people could relate with. So i thought “Lets do a kidnap story with found footage” So we birthed the idea. i called Xavier who co created it. we talked about it for a while and voila! one chance was born

• have you ever experienced ‘one chance’?
Nope…never. I know people who have though.

• what do you hope to achieve from it?
Artistic Orgasm! lol. Honestly i want to know that we made something that people actually enjoyed.

• what challenges did you face?
Lots of challenges. The first Episode was supposed to be shot late evening. but we had issues with the security we hired. So we started late. While we were filming Episode 2, Some people actually blocked the bus with their cars thinking it was a real ‘one chance’ situation. one lady came out and was shouting. “They are kidnapping people o”. I had to come down and show her the Camera. she was not too pleased.

• why the love for thrillers?
They are much more engaging. i love to hold people down with a story

‎• what are your views on the Nigerian film industry?

It is changing a lot. Evolving is the right word. Lots of young people are getting courageous. They are changing the game and its a good thing. Sooner or later, we will be standing toe to toe with global film industries.

• what would do you think needs to be improved upon in the industry?
Story telling. we have gotten the technical aspects. we need to tell better stories